| abstract |
An apparatus and non-invasive method of measuring oxygen by exciting a luminescent compound disposed in a container and then measuring the intensity of the light emitted by the excited luminescent compound as it relaxes to the ground state. A plot of emission intensity as a function of time results in an exponential decay curve the area of which is inversely proportional to the oxygen concentration. The oxygen concentration can be determined over a wide temperature range by measuring the temperature of the container and the emission intensity and then applying the following equation:n n[O 2 ]=( A Ta ( T ) 2 +B Ta ( T )+ C Ta )(tau) 2 +( A Tb ( T ) 2 +B Tb ( T )+ C Tb )(tau)+( A Tc ( T ) 2 +B Tc ( T )+ C Tc )n T is the measured temperature; tau is the area of the exponential decay curve; and A Ta , B Ta , C Ta , A Tb , B Tb , C Tb , A Tc , B Tc , and C Tc are coefficients that are specific to the luminescent compound being examined. |